Investigating the mechanical properties related to the vertical bending of composite I‐beams with corrugated steel webs

Abstract The maximum angular rotation attributable to the in‐plane shear deformation of flange slabs is used as generalised displacement in the conventional analysis method for I‐beams. However, the mechanical concepts are poorly understood due to the complex nature of this analysis method. Consequently, a novel strategy for analysing vertical bending in composite I‐beams is proposed in this study. This approach uses the additional deflection of composite I‐beams induced by the shear lag effect as the generalised displacement. Furthermore, this research comprehensively considers the accordion effect, shear lag and self‐equilibrium conditions for the shear lag warping stress and bending moment. Moreover, two longitudinal warping displacement difference functions are employed to accurately describe the variation of shear lag in composite I‐beams with varying flange slab widths. The differential equations of the I‐beams with corrugated steel webs in the elastic range are established based on the energy‐variation method. A complete mechanical system of a composite I‐beam is decomposed into two parts, namely, the shear lag mechanical system and the elementary beam mechanical system, which are independent of each other. The theory presented in this paper reflects the internal mechanical mechanism of composite I‐beams. The calculation accuracy is considerably improved in this study. Therefore, this method is more unambiguous and well‐defined. It enriches and advances the current analysis theory of composite structures, which can guide the design of composite I‐beams.